It is known that, during a charging process, a material supply vehicle, e.g., a truck, backs up to a material bunker of a road finisher or a charger and, if necessary, docks onto a docking device of the road finisher or of the charger, at least temporarily, during the charging process. A docking device provided for this purpose is furnished e.g., by the applicant's PaveDock system, which is described especially within the framework of European patent application No. 14164376.7, whose disclosure is herewith incorporated by reference.
For filling the material bunker of the road finisher or of the charger, the material supply vehicle, e.g., the truck, backs up to the material bunker such that the rear part of the load platform of the material supply vehicle projects, at least partially, into a charging area of the material bunker, so that, when the load platform is tilted, the pavement material will slide from the load platform into the material bunker.
Traditionally, the load platform of the material supply vehicle comprises a tailgate, which is opened during the material transfer process to the material bunker, when the material supply vehicle tilts the load platform. When the load platform of the material supply vehicle is being lifted, the tailgate is maintained at a position enforced by gravity substantially perpendicular to the ground, and it may additionally be forced open backwards by the pavement material sliding down the load platform.
A circumstance causing problems is that, when the material is being transferred, the tailgate of the truck projects far into a charging area of the material bunker of the road finisher or of the charger and may perhaps collide with material bunker walls or with components, such as augers, installed in the material bunker.
In addition, the hanging-down tailgate may prevent a uniform distribution of material during material transfer to the material bunker of the road finisher or of the charger, since the pavement material sliding down the load platform strikes against the tailgate and is then guided predominantly into a front area of the material bunker. This results in non-uniform filling of the material bunker, whereby additional efforts may be required or the laying process may even be interrupted.